LEWISTON — The 2017-18 season of the Great Falls Forum continues Thursday, featuring Michael Miclon, executive/artistic director for Johnson Hall, with a talk titled “Vaudeville in Maine.”

The program will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library.

Miclon produces more than 50 performances annually at the Gardiner hall, as well as waterfront concerts and Johnson Hall’s Artist in the Schools program. Miclon is also leading the charge on the renovation of the second and third floors of the historic Johnson Hall Opera House, due to reopen in 2019.

Miclon began his career in 1982 at the age of 14 as an apprentice to Benny and Denise Reehl of the New England New Vaudeville Revue out of Gardiner, formerly the Buckfield Leather and Lather Traveling Variety Show. He continued studying in 1985 with Mime Master Tony Montanaro at the world-renowned Celebration Barn Theater in South Paris.

As an entertainer, Miclon has built an international reputation that has brought him to some of the finest theaters and special events across the United States and Europe, with such highlights as the Kennedy Center and the White House in Washington D.C., The Keller Theater in Germany, The Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Switzerland and the Festa Americana in Italy.

As a filmmaker, Miclon has created videos and short films in 10 countries on four continents for corporate and humanitarian groups since 2000. In 2006, he became the director of photography and creative consultant for EepyBird, who has received two Emmy nominations and four Webby Awards, and whose videos have been viewed more than 150 million times.

In his Great Falls Forum presentation, Miclon will present a look at Vaudeville and New Vaudeville and its effect on the performing arts landscape in Maine. From the Maine Vaudeville circuit to the legacy of Benny and Denise Reehl, to the Oddfellow Theater and Celebration Barn, he will discuss how Vaudeville is still strong and growing in Maine and across the country.

Admission is free to all forum events and no reservations are required. This program is a bring-your-own, brown-bag lunch event. Coffee, tea and bottled water will be available on site at the library.

The Great Falls Forum speaker series is co-sponsored by Bates College, Lewiston Public Library and the Sun Journal.

The library is downtown at 200 Lisbon St. at the corner of Pine Street. More information on Thursday’s lecture is available by contacting the Lewiston Public Library at 513-3135 or LPLreference@gmail.com.

Michael Miclon (Submitted photo)

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